Saturday, May 22, 2010

I just had the wonderful opportunity to make more peonies...in peach and white...and mix them with green hydrangea, filler flowers, and a myriad of other little buds and leaves. This time, I used them in a sugar vase topper:

The vase itself was made out of a granulated sugar and water mixture pressed into a slender mug. Once formed and dried for a day, the edges of the vase were firm, but the center was still soft enough to be scooped out with a spoon.

I formed a small base by pressing the same mixture into the hollow base of the mug. Both were dried for an additional day until they hardened completely, and I glued them together with royal icing:

The base of the vase was covered with tiny strings of sugarpaste to give it a modern and polished look:

Finally, I used royal icing to glue a Styrofoam ball into the opening of the vase, and then created the bouquet by arranging all of the flower, bud and leaf stems in the Styrofoam. A few extra peony petals were added for fun:

Thanks Jeannie! The completed piece has some weight - 1 pound 5 ounces altogether...and would need several dowels in the tier underneath it for support! It's also tall, so it would be a good idea to attach several narrow dowels into the base of the vase, and slide them into the tier to prevent any tipping over. Jackie

Neat idea, it's similar to the same method for making sugar skulls. It makes a wonderful keepsake for displaying the beautiful bouquet after the wedding. Have you tried coloring the sugar to get a different color vase?

Cindy - you could color the water before you mix it into the sugar, or just add a drop of gel color to the sugar/water mixture and mix well to distribute the color. Maybe I should play around with it and then blog about it!! :)

I do not know what link took me to your blog, but wow your work is really inspiring. I am a beginner in gum paste, learning my self with books and videos, now your blog is going to be very helpful to me. Too bad I live in FL and you are in CA, would love to be one of your students. How often do you post tutotials, the one on hygrangeas is awesome, I printed them all 3 parts. Regards, Bianka

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About Me

Sugar artist and wedding cake designer, and the owner of Petalsweet™, located in San Diego, California. We teach group classes and offer private instruction in the art of cake decorating and making sugar flowers. We specialize in flowers that are stylized, yet modern and sophisticated. For more information please send inquiries to jacqueline@petalsweet.com. Thank you!